More pit bulls are filling area shelters

Recent attacks put focus on nationwide trend, and officials see no end in sight

SALATHEIA BRYANT, Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle

Published
6:30 am CST, Sunday, February 25, 2007

A stray pit bull-type dog waits for it's owner in a pen in the Harris County Veterinary Public Health building Wednesday. If the pit bull owners don't pick up the dogs, they will be euthanized. The county doesn't give pit bulls up for adoption. less

A stray pit bull-type dog waits for it's owner in a pen in the Harris County Veterinary Public Health building Wednesday. If the pit bull owners don't pick up the dogs, they will be euthanized. The county ... more

Photo: Nick De La Torre, CHRONICLE

Photo: Nick De La Torre, CHRONICLE

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A stray pit bull-type dog waits for it's owner in a pen in the Harris County Veterinary Public Health building Wednesday. If the pit bull owners don't pick up the dogs, they will be euthanized. The county doesn't give pit bulls up for adoption. less

A stray pit bull-type dog waits for it's owner in a pen in the Harris County Veterinary Public Health building Wednesday. If the pit bull owners don't pick up the dogs, they will be euthanized. The county ... more

On one recent day the shelter housed as many as 45 pit bull-type dogs.

The dogs, which are popular to buy on Web sites and at roadside stands, flea markets and strip center parking lots, also are the dogs most likely to end up at the shelter. Often their lives end in euthanasia because many agencies do not put pit bulls up for adoption.

Since 2000, Harris County records show the number of pit bull-type dogs has jumped from 5 percent of the total number of canines housed at the shelter to 21 percent in 2006.

It's a nationwide trend with no end in sight, local animal control officials say.

Officials cite the breed's popularity, stricter ordinances, the prevalence of dog-fighting rings and negative public perceptions among the reasons offered for the growing number of pit bulls that end up on the streets or in shelters.

The American pit bull terrier is a purebred recognized by the United Kennel Club for more than a century. "Pit bull" since has become a general term used to describe several breeds that have similar traits and characteristics.

The county's Veterinary Public Health Department has taken a role in combating problems associated with the dogs, forming a pit bull task force and pushing legislation that would give the county the power to regulate the roadside sale of animals.

Department director Dawn Blackmar and others said such vendors and "backyard breeders" fuel the problem by making the dog readily available.

The Humane Society of the United States last year conducted two informal studies that indicated pit bulls make up, on average, 30 percent of all dogs taken in by municipal and private shelters. A few reported figures are as high as 85 percent.

"There has never been a situation like this with any other dog," Goldfarb said. "It has never been this extreme before. With the cocker spaniel and Dalmatians, these were fads of family dogs, but the root of overpopulation with pit bull isn't coming from that. You can walk into some shelters and they are just full of pit bulls."

Goldfarb said breeding pit bulls is seen as an easy way to make cash, with some puppies fetching several thousand dollars.

At the same time, he said, pit bulls tend to be abused more than other breeds and are more likely to end up on chains in backyards, which could add to their aggression.

Another troubling aspect for the pit bull, Goldfarb said, is that some breeders are mating dogs without regard for genetics, creating dangerous animals. A pit bull should be people-friendly, he said.

It is the dangerous animals that most often put pit bulls in the headlines.

Last Thursday, two girls were attacked by a pair of pit bull-type dogs while walking home from school in north Harris County. After attacking the 12-year-old girl, the dogs dragged a 7-year-old girl before neighbors and paramedics came to the child's aid.

The dogs ran into some nearby woods but were later shot by sheriff's deputies.

A man died in Montgomery County in October after being attacked by a pit bull owned by a man trying to sell some dogs. The man and a friend were looking to buy a pit bull for security when the dog attacked both of them.

Colleen Hodges, a spokeswoman for the county Veterinary Public Health Department, said the male dog involved in last week's attack on the two girls was a pit bull-type dog and the female was a pit bull mix. Hodges said the female was in heat, which could have contributed to the dogs' aggression.

One aim of the county's task force is to acquire grant money to support a special spay and neuter promotion for pit bull-type dogs.

The stories of pit bull attacks also have fueled public suspicion of the breed. Some owners who voluntarily have surrendered their dogs have told officials they were giving them up after hearing about an attack.

Shelter officials report getting more calls from law enforcement on aggressive dogs.

BARC's records show calls for assistance related to pit bulls have increased from 461 in 2002 to 827 last year.

Marcy Setter, spokeswoman with Pit Bull Rescue Central, isn't surprised at the increase in the number of pit bull-type dogs ending up in shelters. She expects the trend to continue for a few years until the popularity of the dog dies down.

Setter said some of the numbers being reported by shelters might be skewed because some shelters mistakenly identify the dog.

"The pit bull is the current media monster," she said. "Then you get the idiots who want that kind of dog. They are really a popular dog right now. There are a lot of celebrities who have the dog. We've got a lot of backyard breeders trying to make a buck."

The City Council recently strengthened Houston's dangerous-dog ordinance. The council also approved a measure that bans the sale of live animals in flea markets, parking lots and along roadsides.

The ordinance takes effect July 1.

But officials concede that with overbreeding from unlicensed breeders, the problem is likely to continue.

"It's a real problem," said BARC director Kent Robertson. "The majority of these end up being euthanized. It's not the pit bull. This was a wonderful breed many years ago. Now the breed is being ruined."